How to use Targeted Personalisation?

Website personalisation is a powerful digital marketing tactic used to appeal to your visitors with targeted messaging and content based on their unique needs and behaviours.

Did you know that 87% of consumers say they are more likely to do business with travel websites and/or apps that offer personalised experiences? Rather than displaying one broad message to everyone, personalisation allows you to serve highly relevant offers, boosting your chances of conversion.

Here is your step-by-step guide to conceptualising and building personalisation via the Bookassist CMS.

Phase 1: Define & Map Your Target Audiences

Creating unique experiences starts with determining exactly who you want to target. You can map audiences by shared attributes such as new vs. returning visitors, geographic location, mobile device usage, or referral traffic from specific social networks.

1. Access the Personalisation Dashboard

To set up your audience rules in the CMS, use the standard two-screen entry flow:

Path: Screen 1 (Dashboard) > Website CMS > [Select your domain] > Screen 2 (CMS Editor) > Website Tab > Personalisation

2. Create Audience Segments

We recommend starting with 1 to 3 target audiences. Here are a few highly effective examples you can build:

New Site Visitors: Target users visiting your website for the first time.
Return Visitors / Abandoned Reservations: Target users who have previously visited or were delivered to your booking engine but did not complete a stay.
Geotargeted Visitors: Target users viewing the site from a specific country, or mobile users currently located within your property's city/county.
Campaign-Specific: Target users arriving via a specific promotional link (e.g., an Anniversary or Black Friday email blast).

3. Set Priority Rankings

When creating multiple audiences, it is critically important to prioritise them by rank. If a single site visitor matches the rules for more than one audience (e.g., they are a "Mobile User" AND a "New Visitor"), the CMS will default to showing them the content for your highest-ranking audience.

Phase 2: Crafting Your Personalised Campaigns

Once your audiences are defined, you are ready to map personalised content to deliver to them. Because the home page is a major landing spot for most visitors, this is where the bulk of your personalisation will happen.

1. Navigating to Your Widgets

Navigate to the page you wish to edit (e.g., your Home page). You will build personalised experiences using our standard design widgets.

The "Green Highlight" Rule: To edit any widget on your page canvas, simply hover your mouse over the section until the entire widget container is highlighted in green.
Options: This green box provides three primary actions: [Edit | Move | Delete]. Click Edit to open the settings.
Drilling Down: Please note that editing complex widgets often requires you to navigate through multiple layers (e.g., clicking Edit on a widget, then again on a specific control or slide) to reach advanced configuration options or simply to change text or images.

2. Apply Personalisation to Widgets

Many of our core widgets are personalisation-enabled. You can view live examples of these widgets here:

To apply the settings:

Once inside the widget's editing area, look for the Personalisation dropdown or tab.
Select the specific Target Audience you created in Phase 1.
Update the image, headline, or button links to speak directly to that group.
ADA Reminder: Every visual widget slide must have Alt-Text for compliance (if you require strict ADA design, consider using the Retrograde template).

3. Save & Publish

Always click Save within the widget editor to stage your changes.
Use the Preview button in the top toolbar to test your personalised layout.
Click Publish to push the personalised experience live to your guests.

💡 Inspiration: Campaign Strategies

Not sure what content to show? Here are a few proven strategies based on audience behaviour:

For New Visitors: Focus heavily on the destination. Use appealing imagery of local attractions and landscapes to help visitors visualise their experience. Provide introductory direct-booking incentives with a set end date to create urgency.
For Return Visitors (Reservation Abandoners): Because these visitors have already shown intent, remarket to them with strong conversion drivers. Offer loyalty reward points, return discounts, or free room upgrades to close the booking.
For Campaign Visitors (e.g., Anniversary Promo): If they clicked an email link about an anniversary, keep that momentum going! Show images of couples and trigger a time-delayed Modal Popup offering a complimentary bottle of champagne when they book.